Thursday 4 July 2019

A Quiet and Simple Life?


Cover
I've been reading 'The Way Home, Tales from a life without technology.' by Mark Boyle. Another book written by someone trying to search for a simple life.....The library website says....

No running water, no car, no electricity or any of the things it powers: the internet, phone, washing machine, radio or light bulb. Just a wooden cabin, on a smallholding, by the edge of a stand of spruce. In this honest and lyrical account of a remarkable life without modern technology, Mark Boyle explores the hard won joys of building a home with his bare hands, learning to make fire, collecting water from the spring, foraging and fishing. What he finds is an elemental life, one governed by the rhythms of the sun and seasons, where life and death dance in a primal landscape of blood, wood, muck, water, and fire - much the same life we have lived for most of our time on earth. Revisiting it brings a deep insight into what it means to be human at a time when the boundaries between man and machine are blurring.

 (His earlier book in 2010 was all about a year without money, 'Moneyless man, A Year of Freeconomic Living'.)

After writing about the book 'Copsford' yesterday I got to thinking about all the books I have read about living a "simple life", starting with  John Seymour's Self Sufficiency books, Elizabeth West's Hovel books, Patrick Rivers' back to the land books and others from  the 1970s. 
I still own a few
 More recently Neil Ansells book "Deep Country" written in 2012 and the most recent was the book I read last year and wrote about HERE . Gaining Ground is a fictional account of a woman running away to a cabin in the woods.

Not many people can run away to a cabin in the woods and I'm not sure that's the answer anyway. 

I think I'm now living the quietest and most simple life I've ever lived. I didn't choose to be alone like the woman in Gaining Ground but during the last year I've learned to try to be positive about it  and  at least no one can argue with me about what I do! On the whole, most days I'm happy, as happy as all the happy times in my life before and much better than the hard sad times - mostly caused by depression. The occasional sad days are just that - a sad day, it passes and I'm back to contentment again.

Somewhere back in smallholder days I remember writing about people saying that we had gone back to a simple life on the smallholding - Ha! far from it. It was hard work - not that we minded as it was what we had wanted to do for so many years.
 I wrote that a real simple life would be living in a house rented from a responsible landlord (so someone else has to deal with  repairs) with a maid (to do all the work) with no garden (so you don't need to think about caring for plants) beside a railway station and a bus stop (so you don't need to run a car with all it's attendant worries) next door to a Waitrose and a M&S (so you could buy very top quality food that needs no preparation). BUT how boring that would be!

I think you can still have a quiet and simple life even if you keep the phone, car, washing machine etc and even if you don't move to a cabin in the woods. It's all a state of mind and I'm never bored.



Back Tomorrow
Sue

45 comments:

  1. I agree - that would be boring, and only 'simple' from one's own point of view.
    Simplicity to me means trying to be frugal, and not use too many of the planet's resources. We live in the 21st century and it's not easy being green - I run a car, I buy manufactured goods and I want a comfortable home, so everything is a compromise. I'm inspired by how much of your own food you grow and how much you manage to buy second-hand. You do seem to have found contentment in your 'new' life and I love reading about it.

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    1. Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy reading
      Just given away 4 cucumbers and 3 aubergines today!

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  2. I think Athene has summed it up well. You said "I didn't choose to be alone" - but you have wisely chosen not to isolate yourself. A few of the green, off-grid gurus seem to revel in being solitary. "simple living" in my book must include time in company/communication with friends and family. Communing with nature is all well and good, but even Robinson Crusoe was grateful when Friday turned up!

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    1. Sometimes I do have to make an effort to go out but always enjoy whatever it is when I get there.

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  3. Well said! You are navigating your changed life with grace and showing how satisfying and doable a simple life can be.

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  4. I read your post in bed, as I always do, and was mulling it over while I got up and thinking that really all lives are pretty simple. My life is not like yours, except that I live alone, but it is also pretty simple on a day to day basis. And when I was working for years in the City I still lived simply with work in between morning and night but when I got home I still had Spam for tea, fed the cats, shut the door and watched tv, and went to bed at 9.30pm!

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    1. It's all about not juggling too many things and being able to choose what to do

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  5. Well said Sue. I am fortunate I love a simple life. I have a good family and severel friends even thou they are long away we keep in touch. I have lots of hobbies (Cannot do as much as I would like but I can think about it) I love my garden and my new little home. My health could be better but I am 81 know but can still have walk, look after myself. The sky is beautiful and the birds are singing. I still cannot read but hopefully I will do one day because of the stroke. Enjoy the day Sue and everyone else and be lucky for there is always somebody worth of then yourself. Hazel c uk

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    1. A busy day today - will write about it next week

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  6. I loved Deep Country - but even for this author his time in his life was only a short period. For me it is the business of today's life that is a struggle and makes me yearn for a little simplicity, we always seem to be juggling so many things that it makes it hard to concentrate on any one of them and really enjoy the moment.
    I am pleased though that you feel content with your life now and can work through your sad days and that they pass.

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    1. I'm making the best of my new way of life I think, no point in not making the best of it

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  7. You are right. It's all a state of mind, and being content with what we have. I have health issues which severely restrict my social life, but other than that my life is simple and enjoyable.

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    1. Things would certainly be difficult for me here if I became ill. Life would have to change drastically

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  8. A thoughtful post Sue! For my two-penny worth, I think 'simple' is an over-used word now and I believe that most people have simple lives, leaving the opposite (complicated) to the rich and famous. Perhaps what some people crave is a down-sized life hence all the de-cluttering, etc., which includes me too, lol.

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    1. I tried down-sized in the 2 bed bungalow for a year - it was awful!

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  9. You did a nice job of stating what a life of contentment means for you. Not sure there is any way to live a simple life no matter where one lives given the emotional, financial and physical ups and downs most of us face, especially ones that come with age. As you note, the smallholding was anything but simple, but it was a choice you willingly made--expecting a great deal of hard work. I'm happy for you that you have found a sense of contentment at this time of your life. May it ever be so.

    Great post, Sue.

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  10. It really is about being in a state of contentment isn't it? Maybe simple isn't a descriptor of someone's actual life, but instead, a way of describing their needs and what makes them content. I am very content with my gardens, my chickens, my kids... I often say to my husband that I'm very low maintenance! I think you've done remarkably well this past year, Sue! -Jenn

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    1. I used to tell Col how lucky he was that I didn't drag him round shops looking for new furniture or clothes every weekend!

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  11. Wonderful post. I am currently reading A Croft in the Hills by Katharine Stewart, post WWII memoir. Couple leave their city jobs and start a new life farming in Scotland with daughter. Interesting in parts, but from time to time I find the extolling how wonderful this life choice is a bit much.

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    1. I've read and enjoyed other books by Katherine Stewart as well. Post in the Hills was interesting.

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  12. We have such a similar taste in books don't we :-)

    I think we all live variations of as simple a life as we want to live. I know for a fact that my life at the Van is so much more simple than any life I have lived on any of our small holdings. True I am self sufficient in nothing there, but limited shopping feeds me for a week and washing is done by hand and dried in the sun. I don't have solar power, but I don't use as much power so that doesn't really matter ... my electricity bill for the whole of last year was less than £50.

    I know now that I would be able to comfortably live off just a pension if I stayed there, and it's very reassuring.

    I'll have to look out for The Way Home, I haven't seen that one yet.

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    1. The Way Home is new this year, interesting but not the best book I've read on the subject

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  13. I agree with you that simplicity is a state of mind rather than location. Contentment plays well with simplicity in my mind; not always yearning for the latest thing. I very much enjoyed this thoughtful post, and others, although I rarely comment.

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    1. I've never been fond of new gadgets or keeping up with fashion - too much like hard work

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  14. But life can never be that simple if you have children and g.children, or help run various village groups or events, there is always something to be done. I think to be really simple you have to live like a hermit and not have anything to do with anyone or help anyone and what sort of life would that be, never extending a helpful hand, caring for family, just thinking of yourself, not very healthy. My life is simple in terms of possessions but not in terms of helping my friends and family.

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    1. I guess it's about choosing which things cause stress and which things are enjoyable

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    2. Very wise. Sometimes we have to do things that are stressful but for the most part cutting out stress is, I think, what people mean by the simple life.

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  15. That book is waiting on my reading pike - should get to it in a week or two!
    Have just re-read Deep Country - love this sort of book. It reminds me of us living in a caravan in 1961-3, with a standpipe for water, an oil lamp and candies, a single gas ring and a Calor Gas cylinder - our only 'mod cons'!
    We were there during most of those long weeks of the 1963 big freeze, and lived to tell the tale!
    (We moved into actual bricks and mortar at the end of February.)

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    1. I didn't know about your winter in a caravan in 1963 I was 8 and remember the cold walks to school and the ice in the milk bottles. Our caravan year was chilly and only gas mobile heater and electric convectors - no one got ill there either

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  16. I think it is all to do with definition, having just read Sarah Dee's comment. My life has often been complicated and busy with looking after mum, working full time at the same time, and partner, and second job, but I would still say that at the time I lived a simple life.

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    1. I have no idea what the real definition of a simple life is.

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  17. I live a simple life and I am grateful for electricity etc that assists me in this.

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    1. Yes I would miss lights and the TV in my simple life too

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  18. I agree a simple life can take many forms. Being content and happy with your lifestyle is a huge achievement. I'm so pleased you are finding happiness now.

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  19. Have you come across Tasha Tudor? I think you would enjoy exploring her life and ethos. Hard to find in the UK, but plenty of resources online.

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    1. I have one of her childrens books "A Time to Keep" with the lovely drawings

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  20. I feel that it is just too easy to get what we want by going out and buying it...but we get anyway then it can sometimes give us little joy as we haven't experienced the hands on making and crafting the thing...so all we have is some generic piece of whatever instead of something personal which usually gives us much more in terms of emotional satisfaction. x

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    1. That's a very long sentence but I see what you mean :-)

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  21. Attitude is everything. I think I might pin up your comment on "no point in not making the best of it" because the alternative doesn't get you anywhere. I do think that sometimes we need a break from striving to stay on top of things when all hell breaks out. I allow myself one, perhaps two, days of switching off, major naps, lots of tea and staring out of the window and then it's sleeves rolled up and getting on with it. Resiliency is an odd thing, some people have it, some people don't, some people can develop it. I had a tough start in life and if I hadn't found a way to cope I don't know what would have happened. I would rather not have gone through what I did and coping skills learned as a child may not always be the best but at least I've never given up. My experiences have also allowed me to take real joy in and celebrate the hard earned contentment of others. Well done you!

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    1. My week doing not a lot two weeks ago was very useful, it recharged batteries, and actually I've not done much this week either - except eat cake and watch tennis!

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  22. I agree that the simpler life is a state of mind. It is so good to hear you are happy in yours.

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